BRACE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 31 DECEMBER 2019 Charity Number 297965 BRACE FINANCIAL STATEMENTS YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Contents Pages Reference & Administrative Information 1 - 2 Report of the Trustees 3 - 12 Report of the Independent Auditor 13 - 15 Statement of Financial Activities 16 Balance sheet 17 Cash Flow Statement 18 Notes forming part of the financial statements 19 - 34 BRACE REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Trustees Mrs S Blatchford Mrs K Clarke Mrs J Dare Mr P Lippett Professor S Lisney Professor B Lumb Dr M Norman Mrs S Perry Mrs M Whittington Ms H Wyn Mr P McIlwraith (resigned 14 May 2019) Patrons The Rt Hon Lord Mayor of Bristol Ambassadors Beth Britton Stephanie Cole OBE Jonathan Dimbleby Callum Gathercole Julia Hwang Sir Martyn Lewis CBE Geoff Twentyman John Challis Administration / Office M Poarch (Chief Executive) Professor S Lisney (Chairman) Mrs K Clarke (Honorary Treasurer) 1 BRACE REFERENCE & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Principal Office The BRACE Charity Office Elgar House Southmead Hospital Bristol BS10 5NB Auditor Burton Sweet Chartered Accountants The Clock Tower 5 Farleigh Court Old Weston Road Flax Bourton Bristol BS48 1UR Bankers National Westminster Bank Plc PO Box 221 13 High Street Westbury-on-Trym Bristol BS99 4JY Contacts The BRACE Charity Office Elgar House Southmead Hospital Bristol BS10 5NB Telephone / Fax: 0117 414 4831 Email: [email protected] Web: www.alzheimers-brace.org 2 BRACE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Introduction BRACE is a charity dedicated to defeating dementia through medical science. It sets out to achieve its objective by raising funds and awarding grants for peer reviewed research at universities in South West England and South Wales. 2019 was a difficult period for all fundraising charities, including BRACE. The uncertainties about the UK’s economic and political future are surely the main reason that many individuals and businesses have been reluctant to donate to charity to the extent that we have seen previously. This reached a nadir in the fourth quarter of 2019, a period of political turmoil, when we made a small operating loss in what is normally our best quarter for income. This report was written in the second quarter of 2020, when we are all facing an even greater threat than political turmoil – the coronavirus pandemic. The result for BRACE has been the cancellation of all fundraising events and public meetings through to at least the end of June, normally the second most productive fundraising period of each year. It has also necessitated the temporary reduction of the staff team through the government’s emergency furlough scheme. It is therefore inevitable that this report reflects the major challenges that the Charity now faces, but also its resilience and determination to survive and resume its support of dementia research. Achievement and performance With the challenges described above, BRACE fell short of its 2019 fundraising target and expects to fall short again in 2020. We do not see this as failure, but as adaptation to a new and more difficult environment. The real achievements of 2019 were improvements, some behind the scenes and some more publicly visible, that will put the Charity in a better place to survive the lean years and grow when the opportunity comes. In particular: We set out to make a modest but important modification to our charitable objects, approved early in 2020 by the Charity Commission (see ‘Governance’) The Trustees invested in improved staff training and their own development as a board A new fundraising post was created in Devon, as BRACE set out to raise funds commensurate with the research grants it is already awarding in the county Our communications expanded with the introduction of regular emails to our mailing list, which itself grew significantly We planned major initiatives to raise awareness in 2020, notably Let’s Talk Dementia and a period of local radio advertising High calibre staff were recruited to fill the two vacancies that unexpectedly arose during the year Improvements were made in the processes for research applications and the award of grants 3 BRACE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 We continued to add layers of protection to the Charity, notably in terms of a stronger risk evaluation process and enhanced Internet security Financial review & fundraising Total income, at £633k, was little more than two thirds the 2018 total of £907k. Donations were £300k (£602k in 2018) and community fundraising £66k (£85k in 2018). In the three previous years and in four of the previous five years BRACE had broken its own record for non-legacy income, so the fall should be set in the context of the achievements of the period from 2014. Legacies, that most unpredictable of income streams, rose from £208k to £255k. Investment income, limited to deposit accounts, was £13k (£11k in 2018). Like many other charities, we saw reduced financial support from businesses in 2019, but were immensely grateful to those who did support us. The form of business support that continued to grow in 2019 was collaboration in public information events; the expertise of our collaborators, such as private client solicitors, enabled us to provide a public service while also engaging the Charity with a wider audience. Support from community organisations has always been of huge importance to BRACE, and this continued to be the case in 2019. The standout performance in terms of fundraising was the £9k raised by Chippenham Golf Club. We received income from foundation trusts, but this was lower than in the previous two years. While this was partly due to the timing of their meetings, we are also aware of the growing pressure on generalist trusts from a wide range of important and often urgent causes. The cost of running the Charity was lower than in 2018 but, with income falling sharply, the proportion of income spent rose to 31%. Fundraising disclosures Our fundraising philosophy is consciously respectful, the approach being to communicate when permitted but never to pursue. It is set out, with twelve promises included, on our website (‘Our fundraising promise’). We believe that this respects the feelings of people generally and protects vulnerable people against feeling under pressure to give. It is the right thing to do. BRACE registered in 2017 with the new Fundraising Regulator. We do not use third party fundraising businesses, preferring to rely on our own staff and volunteers. We received no complaints in 2019 and are not aware of any failures to comply with fundraising regulations or our own standards. 4 BRACE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Grants awarded The Trustees awarded grants totalling £642k (£587k net of adjustments to prior years) in 2019. Other charitable expenditure in the form of the annual conference and support costs took the total to £659k. Grants were awarded to researchers at six universities (Bath, Bristol, Exeter, Plymouth, Swansea and UWE) and North Bristol NHS Trust (in partnership with the University of Bristol). The grants covered studentships, pilot projects, equipment and – in the case of the NHS – the employment of a nurse and coordinator to enhance clinical research in association with patient care. We continue to regard studentships as one of our funding priorities. A three-year PhD project allows a specific line of research to be pursued under the supervision of a leading dementia scientist, but also develops the student as potentially one of the next generation of leading dementia researchers. It is thus an investment in the infrastructure of dementia research as well as in gathering knowledge during the period of the project. BRACE continues to regard its support of the South West Dementia Brain Bank as a priority. BRACE has supported the SWDBB since the Charity was founded and in doing so it has helped to make it an indispensable platform for laboratory research that involves the analysis of donated brain tissue. For this reason, the Trustees have set aside funds towards the periodic support grant application expected in 2020. Promotional activity We saw continued improvements in our printed literature and online promotion in 2019, notably in the quality of the Magazine and the expansion of the emailing list in terms of both subscribers and frequency. An increasing part of our promotional work is done through our conference and public information events. These also help achieve our charitable purposes by making people aware of knowledge derived from research that they can use to reduce their own risk of dementia and therefore, collectively, the social impact of the condition. The 2019 annual conference was held in November. We increased the quality and size of the conference, our sixth, by moving it to ‘We the Curious’ in central Bristol, and the event was attended by over 230 people. As well as a programme of presentations there were 20 exhibitors with information stands. The afternoon session was chaired by BBC Bristol’s Ali Vowles and the speakers included author and journalist Nicci Gerrard and former Pensions Minister Sir Steve Webb. We would like to thank these and the other excellent contributors for their help in staging a highly successful conference. At the end of 2019, plans were well advanced for an even larger event, in exhibition format, scheduled for June 2020 and organised in collaboration with Bristol Dementia Action Alliance. The event is designed to bring a wide range of dementia-related services together under one roof, thereby creating a ‘one stop shop’ for people seeking information and support. Unfortunately, the coronavirus emergency has forced its postponement, but we hope that it will go ahead in October. 5 BRACE TRUSTEES’ ANNUAL REPORT YEAR ENDED 31 DECEMBER 2019 Governance 2019 saw a strengthening of processes, including the assessment and reporting of risks.